For our (unconscionably high) rent money, the best thing about living in NYC is its endless supply of fun, odd, and inspired cultural events. But with so many options, it can be hard to know where to even begin planning your week. To help you make sense of it all, Flavorpill Deputy Editor Mindy Bond shares the very best of what’s on offer this week. It’s just a taste of what you can find on the new Flavorpill, so if you like what you see, be sure to sign up.
Tuesday, March 26
FILM: Stranger Than Fiction – Spring Season The joys of springtime in New York City. The weather warms up, the flowers bloom, and Stranger than Fiction returns with another glorious installment of their long-running documentary series. For this term, the subject matter ranges from environmentalists who are pro-nuclear energy to Ukrainian Jews who survived World War II by hiding in a cave for 18 months. Sebastian Junger stops in to present his film about photojournalist Tim Hetherington, Sarah Polley’s Toronto Film Festival hit, Stories We Tell (2012), is screened, and the life of Angela Davis is chronicled in Shola Lynch’s Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (2012). The season concludes with Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen’s Oscar-nominated On the Ropes (1999), about a group of boxers who train in a Brooklyn gym.
Wednesday, March 27
FASHION/STYLE: Fashion Talks 2013: Naeem Khan A designer synonymous with glamorous evening attire, Naeem Khan has outfitted the likes of Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, and Penelope Cruz. He’s also found favor with First Lady Michelle Obama, who recently donned one of the designer’s custom-made metallic gowns when she presented at the Academy Awards. Tonight, Khan stops in to discuss the label he launched in 2003, as well as his creative vision and inspirations. For the fashion conscious, this talk, which is moderated by Pamela Golbin, Chief Curator of Fashion and Textiles at Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris, definitely falls in the “do” column.
Thursday, March 28
MUSIC: Aputumpu Music Festival 2013 The music festival with the funny name returns. For year two, expect more unbridled musical energy from some of Brooklyn’s finest instrument-wielding ruffians. More than two dozen bands ranging in genre from Afro-pop to lo-fi have signed on to perform over the festival’s three-day run. The celebration kicks off Thursday at Cameo, with performances by Stranger Cat, Psychic Twin, and perennial Flavorpill favorites Silent Drape Runners. Friday night head to Joe’s Pub for an evening of folk and world music. Or, if punk and electronic are more your thing, hit up Public Assembly for shows in the venue’s front and back rooms. Ran Tea House plays host to closing night with bands such as The Netherlands, Speedy Ortiz, and Eula. Tickets can be purchased for individual events or festival passes are available for the truly adventurous.
Friday, March 29
CONFERENCE: Just Food Conference The gastro-inclined are going to find plenty to chew on at this conference put together by Just Food, a non-profit organization that connects communities in New York with fresh, locally grown food. The two-day gathering features hands-on workshops, networking sessions, and panels exploring government policies and “breaking into” farming, as well as a keynote address by activist and filmmaker Byron Hurt, and Food Talks with movement leaders such as Tamar Adler, Zaid Kurdieh, and Karen Washington. Saturday is highlighted by EXPO, where 1,000 attendees can mingle with exemplary local food artisans, sustainable businesses and organizations. If you’re in the business or are just a fervent foodie, this event is worth biting into.
Saturday, March 30
FOOD/WINE: NYC Craft Beer Festival – Spring Seasonals Spring might not have quite sprung, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy this monumental kegger featuring the spring releases of some of America’s finest Craft Breweries. Split into two sessions, the event allows attendees to spend their time sampling from roughly 150 selections including Allagash Interlude, Two Brothers Cain & Ebel, Goose Island Sofie, and Ballast Point Sculpin Ale. Food, specifically prepared for the occasion by Coopers Craft Kitchen and Tavern 29, is available for purchase in the event’s food court, and seminars on topics such as home brewing and defining “craft” beer also dot the festivities. This is no doubt the place to be today if you love beer.
SPORTS: Red Hook Criterium and After Party
Sunday, March 31
FESTIVAL: Holi Hai in NYC by NYC Bhangra
Ongoing
THEATER: Clown Bar A clown walks into a bar… No, this isn’t the set-up for a bad joke, it’s actually the opening of a campy and clever play from the Award-winning Pipeline Theatre Company. Staged in the back room of a divey Lower East Side drinkery, Clown Bar transports its audience deep inside the underbelly of the clown community. Happy, a former clown turned cop, returns to his old haunts because his junkie brother Timmy has been found dead. Despite continued warnings and numerous temptations, Happy wants answers and won’t give up until he gets them. Written by gifted scribe Adam Szymkowicz with music and additional lyrics by Adam Overett, Clown Bar is an entertaining riff on the old Hollywood crime dramas from the 1940s. A charming indulgence, we recommend donning your best clown nose and catching this scrappy production before it packs into its clown car and zooms away.